Earlier this year, MIA announced her sixth studio album Mata to follow up 2016’s AIM. She unveiled the first single “The One” and now she’s back with the new track “Popular,” an infectious, self-empowering anthem with a jangly rhythm. It builds up the hype for a catchy LP, though it still has no confirmed release date. Mata will mark the first MIA album released via her new partnership with Island Records, following a long-standing history with Interscope and XL Recordings.
MIA is known for her ability to provoke and stir up public conversation. In 2018, the performer got into trouble when the NFL sued MIA over the obscene gesture she flashed during her 2012 Super Bowl performance with Madonna. “If you’re talking about racism and sexism, that moment in my life showed the cracks in everyone I knew,” she said. “I was at Roc Nation at the time and Jay-Z was managing me. The lawsuit was so ridiculous, it proposed that they would keep one hundred percent of my earnings for the rest of my life if I ever earned more than $2 million dollars. Jay-Z was, like, ‘You should sign that sh*t’ and I was, like, ‘No.’”
Check out “Popular” above.